Zero sum In 1484 a French mathematician called Nicolas Chuquet made the earliest surviving written reference to the word ‘tryllion’ (as he spelt it). Chuquet wrote that one followed by six zeros could be called “million, the second mark byllion, the third mark tryllion, the fourth
Alien territory A report published by the Center for American Progress last week showed that the US economy is 13% smaller today than economists had forecast before the financial crisis. As of last Friday, more than $13 trillion of government debt around the world paid a
Point of no return History shows all too clearly the long-term disparity between cash returns and those generated by investing in the stock market. Last week the New York Times pointed out that, had you invested proportionately across US stocks on the day of President
Golden glow The curtain came down on the Rio Olympics, and Team GB basked in the glory of its best-ever medals tally; but events at home were somewhat less inspiring, as markets digested a raft of data and news on interest rates, inflation, retail sales, employment
As the dust settles Whilst the tide of global policy loosening continues, the argument that central banks have exhausted their stores of ammunition continues to grow more vocal, as some market commentators have expressed concern about the diminishing returns of monetary stimulus. This may be true
Record breakers At the ancient Olympics in Greece, doves were released at the opening ceremony. The modern Olympics dispensed with the tradition after the 1988 opening ceremony in Seoul, when the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron ended in disaster for several of the doves. Monetary doves were
Data overload In 2010 Eric Schmidt, CEO of Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and unofficial evangelist-in-chief at Google, gave a sense of the data overload that characterises our digital age. Since 2003, Schmidt claimed, humans had recorded or created as much information every two days as they
Delayed response Nobody likes to be wrong. Markets had been pricing in an 80% likelihood of a rate drop of at least 0.25% last Thursday. Instead, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) wrong-footed markets by voting 8–1 in favour of leaving rates on hold.
Delayed response Nobody likes to be wrong. Markets had been pricing in an 80% likelihood of a rate drop of at least 0.25% last Thursday. Instead, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) wrong-footed markets by voting 8–1 in favour of leaving rates on hold.
Gainful employment After a fortnight of jumpy trading, markets were eager for good news last week. On Friday, it duly materialised in the form of the important US payrolls report. Figures for both April and May had fallen far short of expectations; Janet Yellen, chair of
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